History MagicTheGathering / GameplayTropesJToQ

* MeleeATrois: One of the earliest set of HouseRules in the game was how to govern games involving more than two players. This evolved into the Multiplayer Chaos format, in which three or more players battle at the same time, last man standing, winner take all, with no predetermined alliances.

** A handful of actions will do nothing useful and just harm you or your creatures. For example, ''normally'', when you cast [[http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=420833 Progenitor Mimic]], you target another creature and the Mimic become a copy of that creature [[MookMaker that makes more copies]]. However, the ability responsible specifies "may", which means you don't ''have'' to do any of that, in which case "Progenitor Mimic enters the battlefield as a 0/0 Shapeshifter creature and is probably put into the graveyard immediately."

* OneMillionBC: The plane of Muraganda is explicitly prehistoric, with stronger than usual connections to Red and Green mana. [[https://gatherer.wizards.com/pages/card/details.aspx?multiverseid=130614 Muraganda Petroglyphs]] are cave art like symbols which grant +2/+2 to creatures without abilities.

* PromotionalPowerlessPieceOfGarbage: Wizards tends to give these out, not as BS "cash grabs" like many other [=CCGs=], but as one-of-a-kind prizes. Several have been given out as unique prizes within books. One unique card was given at the opening of Wizards' first store in Japan. One was given to the 1997 World Champion. Three more were given to Richard Garfield to commemorate his proposal, wedding, and the birth of his first child, respectively. Wizards has also given its employees silly, "Unglued"-style foil promotional cards at Christmas.

** The Commander format is explicitly designed for this. You have double the usual starting life, a 100-card minimum deck size, a limit of one copy of any non-basic land card per deck, effects are encouraged due to the need to address multiple opponents, and games last an hour on average. The longer games create a place where normally AwesomeButImpractical cards get a place to flourish and [[DenserAndWackier bizarre]] [[NotTheIntendedUse scenarios]] are more likely to happen.

** The Commander format is explicitly designed for this. You have double the usual starting life, a 100-card minimum deck size, a limit of one copy of any non-basic land card per deck, KillEmAll effects are encouraged due to the need to address multiple opponents, and games last an hour on average. The longer games create a place where normally AwesomeButImpractical cards get a place to flourish and [[DenserAndWackier bizarre]] [[NotTheIntendedUse scenarios]] are more likely to happen.

* KillEmAll: While there are a number of cards which destroy all creatures currently in play, [[https://gatherer.wizards.com/pages/card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=386288 Decree of Annihilation]] ''[[DeaderThanDead exiles]]'' everything but the cards remaining in each player's deck. Lands, cards in hand, graveyards...all gone.

** [[https://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=one+with+nothing One With Nothing]] is a spell whose entire effect is "discard your hand" and provides the page image for JunkRare on [[Wiki/TVTropes This Very Wiki]]. It was completely useless until a competitive deck came out that relied on giving the opponent a stream of cards and using spells that dealt damage based on the number of cards in an opponent's hand compared to yours.

** The infamous [[http://gatherer.wizards.com/pages/card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=46724 Mindslaver]] card created a whole new section of the rulebook dictating how to handle taking control of your opponent's turn. To date only it, [[http://gatherer.wizards.com/pages/card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=195403 Sorin Markov]], [[http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=380528 Worst Fears]], [[http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=414295 Emrakul, the Promised End]], [[http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=202591 Word of Command]] and [[http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=420628 Cruel Entertainment]] use said rules.

** Many "instant win" decks revolve around drawing several specific cards and using them to essentially nuke your opponent before the match even begins. Needless to say the key cards tend to be pretty unassuming at a glance. One infamous example is the "Vault Deck" -- a combo which uses [[http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=protean%20hulk Protean Hulk]] (which summons creatures from your deck when it dies) and [[http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=FLASH Flash]] (a cheap spell which summons creatures that instantly die if you don't pay a reduced cost). You Flash the Hulk, let it die, then use it's ability to summon up four [[http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=disciple+of+the+vault Disciple of the Vault]], four [[https://www.mtgvault.com/card/shifting-wall/STH/ Shifting Wall]], and four [[https://www.mtgvault.com/card/phyrexian-marauder/VIS/ Phyrexian Marauder]]. Since you're paying 0 mana, the Walls and Marauders become eight 0/0 artifact creatures. The 0/0s die immediately due to having 0 toughness which causes each of the Disciples to deal 8 damage to the enemy for 32 damage (starting hp is 20) killing the opponent instantly. With the right back up cards this can be done on "turn 0" (essentially the setup phase before the fight begins) ensuring your enemy can't even respond to it.

* MegaMaelstrom: [[https://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=378428 Vortex Elemental]], which takes the form of a giant Maelstrom. It's abilities combine as form of removal, forcing an opposing creature to block it and then "swallowing" it by removing them both from the battlefield.

** [[http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=4913 Lobotomy]] let's you choose a card in your opponent's hand other than a basic land. The you search your opponent's graveyard and library for cards with the same name and exile them all.

** [[https://scryfall.com/card/hou/122/majestic-myriarch Majestic Myriarch]] copies abilities at the beginning of combat if its owner controls a (living) creature with those abilities. Take UpToEleven by [[https://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=500859 Odric, Lunarch Marshal]], who not only copies them but ''distributes'' them.

*** When Commander became an official format in 2011, Dranlu saw renewed life and use thanks to his second ability giving any Instant or Sorcery card "Flashback". Given the format's strict "one copy of a card per deck" rule, being able to cast the same spell twice is extremely useful. Further, it synergizes with "discard" effects as you can essentially use your graveyard as a potentially massive holding area for spells to be cast at any time. With the release of [[https://gatherer.wizards.com/pages/card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=464155 Kess, Dissident Mage]] in 2017, which has the same ability, lacks Dralnu's negative first ability, and has an extra color (Red), Dralnu was relegated back to the land of "reject rare" once again.

** [[https://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Dralnu,%20Lich%20Lord Dralnu, Lich Lord]] was largely dismissed as junk when ''Time Spiral'' was released and ''Wizards'' even featured it as part of a "reject rare" creative deckbuilding article where even they declared it "[[AwesomeButImpractical mechanically interesting but competitively useless]]. Then the French pro Guillaume Wafo-Tapa used Dralnu in a highly successful Blue/Black control deck dubbed "[[https://magic.wizards.com/en/articles/archive/feature/dralnu-du-louvre-2011-02-07 Dralnu Du Louvre]]" that became a fixture of ''Time Spiral''-era Standard. Dralnu picked up some serious respect for briefly seeing top-level play.

* MakeAWish: There are several "[[https://mtg.gamepedia.com/Wish#:~:text=A%20Wish%20is%20an%20effect,must%20come%20from%20your%20sideboard. Wish]]" cards which bring one or more cards "you own from outside the game" into your hand. In a casual game, a card you choose from outside the game comes from your personal collection. In a tournament event, a card you choose from outside the game must come from your sideboard.

** Disrupting Scepter forces your opponent to pick a card from their hand and discard it.
** Thoughtseize and Duress both let you pick a non-land card from your opponent's hand to be discarded, though with downsides: Thoughtseize damages you slightly when you use it, while Duress has additional restrictions on what kind of card you can choose to discard.
** Despise and Harsh Scrutiny both let you discard a creature card from your opponent's hand.
** Rakdos's Return makes your opponent discard an amount of cards equal to the amount of damage you dealt them.
** [[https://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=74232 Letter Bomb]] sets a trap in target player's deck that when drawn deals 19½ damage.
** Hymn to Tourach forces the opponent to discard 2 random cards.
** Hypnotic Specter forces the opponent to discard a random card when it deals damage.
** Mind Twist forces your opponent to discard an amount of random cards equal to the mana you spend.
** Winds of Change forces ''everyone'' to reshuffle their hands into their decks and draw an equal amount of new cards- the computer loved this card in the old Shandalar MTG PC game!
** Cursed Rack reduces the opponent's maximum hand size from 7 to 4, usually forcing them to discard cards until they only have 4 remaining.
** Balance forces everyone to discard cards from their hand until they have the same number of cards as the person who had the fewest when Balance was played.

* JokeItem: The cards from the various ''Un-'' explansions (''Unglued'', ''Unhinged'', and ''Unstable'') exist purely for fun. They aren't legal in any serious tournament, include both grossly overpowered and hilariously weak cards, and include mechanics which aren't part of standard gameplay (such as a card requiring you to tear it up, sneaking cards onto the battlefield, cards which don't work if you bend your elbows to play them, etc.)

* KingmakerScenario: Frequently crops up in multiplayer games when [[AliceAndBob Bob's]] position is too weak to win the game, but strong enough to pick a side and swing the game in favor of either [[AliceAndBob Alice]] or [[AliceAndBob Carl]] at his whim. And, of course, Bob can improve his position quickly when down to a duel, culminating in a DarkHorseVictory if he chooses wisely.

** [[http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=6138 Jackalope Herd]] is a 4/5 creature for a mere 4 mana, but has the drawback of being returned to your hand if you play a spell. Naturally, clever players have found a way to turn this into an advantage - if it gets hit with removal, just cast whatever utility spell you have handy to snatch it back to your hand. Alternatively, use its "drawback" in conjunction with post-attack spellcasting to give it a sort of jury-rigged "vigilance" ability.

** "Mill deck" is a catch all term used to describe a deck that negates damage and forces the opponent to discard cards from their deck. This is their entire win strategy. Generally speaking, both of these are viable tactics, but are used to hinder the opponent rather then outright destroy them. Combined, however, these effects quickly deplete your opponents deck to zero (which is an automatic loss) all the while countering, negating, and generally obstructing all sources of damage they attempt to put out. Only certain cards can even hinder this strategy in any form and most decks won't be running those since they are so situational. Made even more terrifying by the fact that being "milled" canonically equates to being {{Mind Rape}}d into an EmptyShell - what with lovely spells like [[http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=83597 Glimpse the Unthinkable]] and [[http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=370663 Traumatize]], and the EldritchAbomination [[http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=188962 Nemesis of Reason]].
** Many "instant win" decks revolve around drawing several specific cards and using them to essentially nuke your opponent before the match even begins. Needless to say the key cards tend to be pretty unassuming at a glance. One infamous example is the "Vault Deck" - a combo which uses [[http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=protean%20hulk Protean Hulk]] (which summons creatures from your deck when it dies) and [[http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=FLASH Flash]] (a cheap spell which summons creatures that instantly die if you don't pay a reduced cost). You Flash the Hulk, let it die, then use it's ability to summon up four [[http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=disciple+of+the+vault Disciple of the Vault]], four [[https://www.mtgvault.com/card/shifting-wall/STH/ Shifting Wall]], and four [[https://www.mtgvault.com/card/phyrexian-marauder/VIS/ Phyrexian Marauder]]. Since you're paying 0 mana, the Walls and Marauders become eight 0/0 artifact creatures. The 0/0s die immediately due to having 0 toughness which causes each of the Disciples to deal 8 damage to the enemy for 32 damage (starting hp is 20) killing the opponent instantly. With the right back up cards this can be done on "turn 0" (essentially the setup phase before the fight begins) ensuring your enemy can't even respond to it.

* MeteorSummoningAttack: There are a number of spells of this sort, which depict {{Flaming Meteor}}s either alone or in swarms and are always Red (the color of brute force, natural disasters and the fury of raw, untamed elements). In practice, they tend to either deal damage to a wide number of creatures at once, representing a hail of meteors scouring the battlefield ([[https://scryfall.com/card/cmr/411/comet-storm Comet Storm]], [[https://scryfall.com/card/cm2/114/meteor-blast Meteor Blast]], [[https://scryfall.com/card/me2/135/meteor-shower Meteor Shower]], [[https://scryfall.com/card/afr/155/meteor-swarm Meteor Swarm]]), deal a tremendous amount of damage to a single creature ([[https://scryfall.com/card/tsr/188/shivan-meteor Shivan Meteor]]), or deal damage in exchange for destroying some of your own cards ([[https://scryfall.com/card/inv/256/meteor-storm Meteor Storm]]).

* {{Mooks}}: Creature tokens, which are creatures who aren't even worth having their own card. By default, creature tokens' names are also their creature type, and if they leave play they simply cease to exist. They rarely have abilities, and those they do have are typically simple keyword abilities like "Flying". They are also typically created in large numbers, either via a one shot deal creating two or more, or by a repeatable effect squeezing out one each turn. Creature tokens didn't have any sort of official representation until ''Magic Online'' needed some standardized way to represent them, and then they weren't printed in paper for years afterward. Each color also has their own standard token Mooks - Green has Saprolings (formerly ''squirrels''), Black has Zombies, Red has Goblins, White has Soldiers, and Blue has...whatever is assigned as Blue creatures in the given setting.

* NeverSayDie: Played Straight through ''Magic 2012'', where seemingly every other word possible was used for creatures instead of "die" - destroyed, removed, exiled, sent to the graveyard, etc. Since ''2012'', creatures are said to "die", Reversing the trope.

** Another example from the same time period was the Eminent Domain deck, so-named because it used [[http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=84564 Annex]], [[http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=88945 Dream Leash]], and [[http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=83037 Confiscate]] to steal their opponent's lands, [[http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=249384 Icy Manipulator]] to hold creatures at bay and tap down more lands, [[http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=83281 Stone Rain]] to destroy what lands it couldn't steal, and finally [[http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=83483 Wildfire]] to destroy all of the lands the opponent had left, along with whatever creatures they'd managed to play, while leaving them with excess lands due to their own stealing and artifact mana, which was untouched by the wildfire; if the opponent DID manage to cast some good creature, then they'd just steal it with Dream Leash or Confiscate themselves. While Wildfire was known to be a very powerful card, Annex had been thought of as a means of punishing players for playing certain kinds of lands, not as a means of allowing a player to steal their opponent's lands and cast a wildfire with a two-land advantage, possibly as early as turn four. The sheer number of permanent stealing spells made the deck extremely versatile, as it could steal anything the opponent used to fight with - lands if they needed mana to cast powerful cards, creatures if they were a threat, and even valuable artifacts - and set the world on fire with a huge advantage on its side. As a result, land-stealing spells became much harder to come by afterwards.

* PossessionImpliesMastery: On the metagame level, the idea of "netdecking" is for a player to look up the cards of a tournament winning deck card for card. However, simply possessing a good deck doesn't necessarily mean you know how to use it. Control decks require precise timing and an exact knowledge of where to spend your limited answers, combo decks require that you know how every card in your deck interacts to generate the winning combos, and aggro decks require that you know when to attack, when to hold back, and when to block - all of which requires knowledge of the constantly evolving metagame. If the deck is so strong, you're going to run into other people playing [[MirrorMatch the same deck]], but who know what to do with it. In addition by the time you get to a tournament, ''really'' good players will have analyzed the famous "winning deck", noted its vulnerabilities, and will have modified their own decks to include counters or even built new decks specifically designed to beat it.

** There is also ''deliberate'' creep on the part of Wizards. The overall pattern has been creatures growing in strength while spells get weaker. When the game first came out, LinearWarriorsQuadraticWizards was in full effect. The infamous [[https://magic.wizards.com/en/articles/archive/power-nine-2003-10-15 Power Nine]] were early cards considered to be the most powerful effects in the game ([[BoringButPractical despite all but one of them being fairly boring in effect]]). Six of them are mana sources while the other three are all spells. There are no creatures in the Power Nine. Meanwhile, [[http://magiccards.info/al/en/103.html Force Of Nature]] was originally the biggest creature in the game, an 8/8 (for 6 mana) that you need to keep paying mana to in order to keep alive. Nowadays, [[http://magiccards.info/zen/en/187.html Terra Stomper]] - a "strictly better" version with a more flexible casting cost, the upkeep drawback removed, and a small perk added - is considered ''too weak'' to play in competition. Additionally, compare [[http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=220176 Serra Angel]], a creature that was at one point removed from the core set for being too powerful, to [[http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=205077 Baneslayer Angel]], which lacks one of Serra Angel's traits (Vigilance) but replaces it with a metric crap-ton of other stuff. The generally-agreed-upon theory as to why creatures suddenly became extremely useful around 2003-2004 was that, for the first 10 years of the game's life, creatures were largely a total waste of mana. While a few were actually considered "good", such as Morphling and Psychatog, the vast, ''vast'' majority [[LinearWarriorsQuadraticWizards were considered plainly useless compared to Enchantments, Instants, Sorceries]], and even ''Lands''... to the point that most top-tier Type 1 and Type 1.5 decks (now called Vintage and Legacy Formats) were creatureless. Wizards vastly overestimated the effect that creatures had on the game outside of Limited and Standard, and around 8th Edition, realized that they needed to make creatures relevant. What ensued was massive power creep of creatures that were intensely mana-efficient, so that they would be considered just as useful as other card types. [[BatmanGambit It worked]]: it is now very rare for Modern, Legacy, and Vintage decks to contain no creatures, but at the same time they aren't the bulk of most decks, either, with most decks playing between 8 and 18 creatures.

** [[https://scryfall.com/card/2ed/114/lich?utm_source=mci Lich]] is a classic. It essentially turns ''you'' into a Lich - you lose all life, but do not immediately lose the game. Instead, you can discard cards in place of damage taken. If you are unable to discard, ''then'' you lose.

* PowerNullifier: There are a number of different Power Nullifiers depending on exactly ''what'' you want to nullify - [[http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=4437 Null Rod]] for artifacts, [[http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=48432 Arrest]] for creatures, [[http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=129526 Pithing Needle]] for any one card, [[http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=5711 Back to Basics]] for non-basic lands, etc.